BUOR Beauty News
Interviewed
By Earker Coleman BUOR Beauty News
HURRICANE HARVEY RECOVERY
How One Houston Area Beauty School Survived.
By: Racheal Young Ogle School Campus Director
Come along as one Beauty School Director tell her story expressing her uncertainty before the storm, allowing us to see their doubts as their optimistic side battled their pessimistic side during the storm, and share with us their reality after the storm.
“ How did your Beauty School Business fair with the devastation that Hurricane Harvey caused”?
As we reflect on how we were affected, what comes to mind is our Mental, Physical, and financial wellbeing before, during, and after Hurricane Harvey. With any storm the outcomes are unpredictable, yet we rely on the media to keep us informed. At our School we base our decisions on two things, the safety of our schools culture to include our Students, Staff, Clients and secondly the health of our business. Therefore, when Mother Nature decides to interrupt our flow for any amount of time, we feel it. But, it’ s how we recover that’ s the most important.
“ So you have quite a large campus, what about 300 students? Not to mention you’ re Staff. Can you describe the process on how your company proceeded once you knew escaping Hurricane Harvey was not an options?
As Tropical Storm Harvey was brewing we were hoping it wouldn’ t cause much damage for anyone; however, with the news we feared the worst. We questioned,“ Is this deception or is it time to make a decision. Do we close, do we stay open, do we evacuate, or do we ride it out”. We decided to stay open and take more of a day by day approach. This was an easy decision because the mayor of the city encouraged everyone to stay put. As history has it, it is possible for a storm to change its course overnight. We understood that we could be out of harm’ s way or in the eye of the storm with one slight directional change. Morning came and we quickly realized there was no escaping. Tropical Storm Harvey had turned into Hurricane Harvey on a path of destruction heading right for our area.
“ So now that it was apparent Hurricane Harvey was laser focused on visiting and maybe even staying for a while how did your school prepare for the unwanted company”?
Once Hurricane Harvey’ s destination was confirmed we closed the campus. We really care about the safety of our people which is more like a family to us. Staff got the word out to our 298 students 14 instructors and a full Admissions department to go home to their families, stay safe, and most of all, communicate their whereabouts daily. I was one of the last Staff members to leave the building. As I was heading out I looked back at the empty offices, classrooms, spa beds, and salon chairs. I quickly said a prayer that this place would once again be filled with footsteps, laughter, education, and legendary customer service.
“ You mentioned you asked everyone to communication their whereabouts, with all the flooding I imagine the communication was not all good”?
No, it was not all good communication. We all watched the news and tried to stay optimistic that everyone would be ok. The optimism began to fade when our city starting turning into an ocean and the boats started to arrive. Some of our staff and students lost power for days, while others were taken to shelters. As the days went on we watched as thousands of Houstonians lost everything. We looked up and suddenly the rain had another purpose, it could hide the tears on all our hopeless faces.
“ Wow that was well said. And Then”?
And then the rain stopped. Reality set in. We wanted to help each other, asses all damage, and clean up. The goal was to put our lives back together and re-introduce normalcy.
“ What was it like when you first went back to the campus? Was it a lot to clean up? What was the morale like after the storm and how did your company regain the week that was lost due to Hurricane Harvey”?
I experience the worst cabin fever ever! I wanted to get out and help, but I couldn’ t get anywhere because so many streets were still under water. But when I was able to get back to the campus it was the greatest feeling! We were grateful to walk back into the campus and see minimal damage, with just a few roof leaks. Although grateful, we were equally sympathetic to those less fortunate then we were. Slowly one by one Staff members and Students made their way back to the campus. We all laughed and cried together as we shared heartfelt emotional stories with each other. Our reality is we did not all return the same, some of our lives drastically changed. But, the point was we were all together again. Yes, the business did suffer. Nevertheless, the love flourished and the morale is positive. We as a company will continue to prosper because our values are grounded in Teamwork, Integrity, Respect, Excellence, & Service to the Customer.
But, our story doesn’ t end here. On Oct 17, 2017 from 11:00AM – 2:00PM we are partnering with Glynn Jackson’ s Heal Houston, where we will graciously give back to the community by offering free hair and facial services to Houstonians affected by Hurricane Harvey.